The Rise and Struggles of Smaller E-Commerce Sellers: Lessons from 2015 to Now
Description
Adrian and Renaud examine how small e-commerce sellers surged in popularity between 2015 and 2021 and why many are now struggling. They discuss the boom in dropshipping, the impact of rising advertising costs, the dominance of big brands, and how platforms like Amazon, Meta, and Google have changed the game. This episode explores why success has become increasingly challenging to attain for small to medium-sized e-commerce sellers and what strategies can still be effective.
Show Sections
00:00 – Introduction
01:28 – From 2015 to 2020: The e-commerce gold rush
03:08 – The dropshipping and ODM model: Opportunities and pitfalls
06:17 – Post-COVID Challenges
07:38 – Advertising Costs and Market Changes
09:02 – Online ads were cheap… until they weren’t
10:34 – Big brands enter e-commerce and dominate paid ads
11:00 – Brand trust drives better ROAS and lower ad costs
12:49 – Rising CPC trends from Google, Amazon, and Meta
15:26 – Ad costs spike during peak seasons, another burden
16:00 – Amazon’s costs and risks: Fulfillment, storage, bad reviews
19:47 – Challenges for small sellers vs. household-name brands
21:06 – Bigger budgets = better ad performance due to AI
23:39 – Strategies for Small E-Commerce Sellers
27:02 – Platform dependence: Sellers get squeezed from all sides
34:34 – Can small sellers still succeed—and how?
- 42:10 – Building a Brand and Community
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- Brand Performance: Maximizing Ad ROI – Search Engine Land
- Branded vs Non-Branded Keywords: The Impact on Your Marketing Strategy – QuickCreator
- The TikTok Shop Era of Super-Subsidies Is Ending – WIRED
- 2025 Trend: Mounting Pressure to Squeeze the Long Tail in Retail Media – eMarketer
- The Ecommerce Experiment: How I Spent $11K and Sold 4 Items on Amazon – Business Insider
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Get in touch with us
-
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
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